Five to make their CA Brumbies debut

A Brumbies head coach Laurie Fisher has included five new faces in his 22-man squad for Saturday night's season opener against the Chiefs in Hamilton.

Former Waratahs back rower Stephen Hoiles will make his first Super 14 appearance for the CA Brumbies at No.8 while Salesi Ma’afu, Richard Stanford, Tim Wright and Matt Carraro are set to make their Super Rugby debuts from the bench.

Hoiles will be joined in a mobile back row by flankers George Smith (open side) and Julian Salvi (blind side).

Fisher, who has named five forwards on his seven-man bench, says selecting a mobile back row was important to challenge the likes of Chiefs loose forwards Steven Bates, Marty Holah and Liam Messam.

“The Chiefs have a strong forward pack and they like to play the game at a good tempo,” he said. “They showed it last season and they showed it again during the Air New Zealand Cup. We know that the game will be played at pace and it’s important that we select the players who are capable of matching that pace.”

Gene Fairbanks has been selected at inside centre and will start alongside returning Wallaby team mates Stirling Mortlock, George Gregan and Mark Gerrard.

Fairbanks has recovered from a quadricep strain he sustained during training a fortnight ago that prevented him from taking part in either of the CA Brumbies’ pre-season trials against the Waratahs and the Hurricanes.

Wallaby flyhalf Stephen Larkham will miss the match following the birth of his second child. The 32-year-old’s position will be filled by former Red Julian Huxley, who makes his first Super Rugby appearance for the CA Brumbies since replacing Larkham during the 2002 Super 12 final loss to the Crusaders.

Fisher says he expects the Chiefs to play a typically physical style of rugby.

“The Chiefs play a strong driving game,” he said. “While they’ll look to play field position, they have a number of strong, direct runners who will challenge us on our tackle line.”